


Welcome Home (Josh Washington x Reader)

by katsu_serpent



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Everyone is basically happy, F/M, Hannah and Beth are Alive, Josh Lives, Josh Washington x female reader, Josh is semi-happy, Reader-Insert, Wendigos aren't a problem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-16 00:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9265979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katsu_serpent/pseuds/katsu_serpent
Summary: Y/N's older brother Chris invites her to the annual Washington winter getaway to celebrate her return home for the first time in a long time in hopes to rekindle relationships between the long-time group of friends, but Y/N can't help but get distracted by her long lasting feelings for the eldest Washington, Josh.Will she finally make a move and confess her feelings to Josh or will Chris and the twins have to give her a "subtle" push in the right direction?





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> Typical to say but this is my first post on here and I apologise for the shoddy summary (and possibly shoddy writing). I wanted it to entice people to want to read this without giving too much away; regardless, I hope you enjoy :)

"Oh my shit, Y/N!" Chris shouted enthusiastically, bounding down the household stairway, engulfing me in a suffocatingly tight hug. He held me for a solid couple of minutes, screaming and shouting about how much he'd missed me, explaining that he couldn't wait to fill me in on everything I'd missed. Although I was just excited to see him as he was me, his embrace became progressively tighter the longer he held me.

"Chris-" I sputtered breathlessly "I need air to live" I managed.

"Oh, God, right. Sorry about that" Chris half-shouted gradually loosening his grip on me.

Chris' reaction despite being a bit extreme was understandable considering how long we'd been apart. For the past four years I'd been living in England, and if I wasn't there I'd been working in LA. The reason I'd been away this long was due to my newfound career as an actress; from a young age, my acting career was picked up quicker than anyone had expected it to, especially me. I'd been away from home this long because of the amount of work I was getting. It began during my first year of high school. Chris was immensely excited to experience high school life with his little sister and I was just excited to experience high school. At the end of the previous year, I'd auditioned for a high-end production play and it was just my luck that I was accepted when the time came for the play's premiere with even more luck I ended up being scouted. Yes, it was beyond exciting, more than anything I could've dreamed of, but this meant time away from my family and friends, but most of all it meant that high school was something I wouldn't get to live through. 

After the first production came to an end, I was hired for another and it only became harder the moment I was asked to appear in films and T.V shows. I quickly gained popularity seeing as I was a young and fast uprising talent, and naturally from there multitudes of people were begging for interviews and exclusives so what began as a one-year production contract turned into a lifetime of fame. It was everything I ever wanted, except for the fact that I was millions of miles away from family and friends and I was rarely able to go back home and see them, but out of everyone I felt that Chris missed me the most. Ever since we were little, Chris and I were inseparable and the distance between us crushed him. He was disappointed to have the opportunity of guiding me through high school ripped away from him but more than happy for my success.

Once Chris finally released me from his now gentle but snug embrace I was guided upstairs to the room that I once considered my own but as of now was merely reduced to a place of office supplies and work out equipment.

"So my room's an office slash gym now?" I smiled amused

"What can I say? Mom needed the space and Dad wanted to get in shape?" Chris explained.

"This wasn't here the last time I was here?"

"We have busy parents"

"Let me guess, Dad used half of the equipment for a week and then came up with excuses for the rest of the year and then proceeded to ignore the fact that he wasted his money on expensive workout equipment"

"Bingo"

"Thought so" I giggled proceeding to unpack my belongings while Chris made up the bed.

It took a little over an hour for the two of us to put the room back into order so that it was suitable for me to stay in. The space was fairly large so it wasn't difficult to do so, most supplies and equipment were moved either to an unoccupied wall or corner making my old bedroom look like a bedroom again. My posters and photos still hung neatly on the walls although slightly faded from the sun that shone on them from day to day, everything was basically as I left it, it was nostalgic to be back home.

I face planted face first onto my queen sized bed, hugging the mattress tightly, my eyes clutched tight, breathing in the familiar scent of the cotton sheets. Chris sat beside me on the edge of the bed, laughing at my overly dramatic embrace of my bed.

"So how long are you gonna be back?"

"Good thing you mentioned that," I said shooting up from my laid down position. "I'm actually moving back"

"Wait, seriously" Chris shouted in disbelief, his eyes wide and fixated.

"Yeah, the next film I'm in is based here in Alberta so...yeah" I laughed.

"That's-" Chris paused, at a loss for words "That's amazing!" He shouted grasping my shoulders joyously, a permanent smiled plastered on his face. "You know what?" He began, his tone more serious and calm than before.

"What" I inquired cheerfully

"Since you're gonna be staying indefinitely, how's about you come to the Washington's annual winter getaway? Y'know, catch up with friends, have some fun, maybe even rekindle your thing with Josh" Chris said cheekily dragging out Josh's name.

As a child I did as most little sisters do, I took a liking to my older brothers best friend, in this case, Josh. As I got older the miniature crush I had when I was younger ceased to fade and only grew as time went on due to Myself and Chris practically growing up alongside the Washington's and it was only a matter of time before Chris discovered my feelings towards Josh and naturally teased me about from then onward. In high school things became a bit more serious, it was your typical 'girl likes the guy but doesn't want to do anything about it in fear of ruining their friendship' type scenario; utterly tiring and annoying to live with, but all the while thrilling and exciting.

"Shut up" I shouted defensively, giving Chris a playful punch in the arm.

"Ow-hey!" Chris laughed. "But seriously, you wanna come?"

"Mmm" I hesitated 

"I know Beth and Hannah would love to see you" He dragged on enticingly

"Fine" I grunted a child-like reply

"Great! It's next week and we may be staying longer than just the weekend, okay?" Chris shouted triumphantly, digging his hand in his pocket only to pull out his phone. " I'll let Josh know" He yelled bringing his phone up to his ear, shooting up from his position on the bed, exiting the room.

"No insinuations or innuendo's" I shouted after him, followed by an annoyed groan from down the hall.

Sure, I'd been away for god-knows how long, but my feelings for Josh never subsided. Whenever I came home for holidays, birthdays or just to visit, other than family I spent most of my time with the Washington's, after all, we practically grew up together. At the beginning of my career, Josh was amongst those who were extremely excited as well as supportive. He would go on and on about producing films with me and the eagerness for the two of us to work together; every time he'd go on about a future together his eyes would light up with passion and enthusiasm which only pushed my attraction further. He was always so supportive and kind regarding my success and only wished to encourage me further, whilst others did the same there was always a hint of envy in their compliments, but never with Josh.

I sat up on my bed, continuing to let my mind wander and swirl with memories and possibilities. I began to wonder whether or not the feelings were mutual; could Josh feel the same way about me as I did him? Nonsense. We were just friends, practically related, at least that's how he must see it. So, I let my fantasy remain a fantasy as I scrolled through my notifications. My phone had blown up with welcome home messages and texts from a sea of people, and although flattering and heartwarming, it only raised my suspicions regarding how they knew I was back.

"Chris! I told you to keep my return a secret!" I yelled in annoyance

"I couldn't help it" Chris dragged, exaggerating the emphasis of each word

"Damn it, Chris" His exaggeration gained a small laugh from me. He was typically terrible at keeping secrets. More specifically, MY secrets, which only made it more astounding that our groups of friends, specifically Josh, had no clue regarding my feelings towards the eldest Washington.

As I began to scroll through my notifications, I realised most messages said the same or somewhat similar things, until I noticed at the very bottom was a simple yet overwhelming text from the infamous lover boy himself.

_ J.Washington: Welcome home, beautiful ;) _

Although sweet and harmless, from this one text I could tell that this trip was going to be like none other. Physically and emotionally draining and exhausting, but none the less interesting. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to see the outcome. 


	2. Secret Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a little Casual conversation, secrets are unintentionally revealed between Y/N and older brother Chris

The days leading up to the trip went by quick. Most days I was occupied unpacking and packing, and if I wasn't doing that my time was spent with my family as well as getting caught up on what I'd missed with a few snippets of gossip here and there from Chris. Whenever I'd be packing or unpacking Chris would offer to help and he'd actually do that for a bit, but every time he'd get distracted by whatever story he was trying to tell, getting carried away with details and his portrayal of what happened, but I didn't mind. He'd tell them so enthusiastically, always making it as entertaining or informative as possibly which made up for his lack of assistance.

Other than the usual, my days were filled with relaxation for the first time in a while. I wasn't required to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to wherever I had to be, I wasn't frantically getting ready for any award shows or interviews, there were no more hours long meetings where I'd be half asleep the majority of the time; ever since I came home all the stress and anxiety that came with stardom melted away into to peaceful bliss. It was nice.

As the days went by I could feel the anticipation growing inside of me, myself becoming progressively more excited to see everyone, I often found myself wondering if they were just as excited to see me as I was them. I'd think about what kind of people they were now, who they'd become. We're they the same and if not, how much had they changed since we last saw each other. These thoughts would occupy my mind and I'd just go with whatever popped into my head next, but no matter how hard I tried to ignore it my thoughts would always travel back to Josh somehow. It didn't matter what I was thinking about, it could be something completely unrelated. I could be watching a movie, figuring out which characters I liked, deciding whether or not I was enjoying what I was watching when out of the blue thoughts of him would find their way into my mind.

_'I wonder what Josh would think about the production of this movie?'_

_'I wonder who his favourite character would be?'_

_'Would he even like this movie?'_

Thoughts like these would stay for hours on end. They'd occupy my day to day life to the point of annoyance and I could never seem to shake them no matter how hard I'd try. Although it was slightly irritating to constantly have Josh occupy my thoughts, I wasn't complaining although I would question why he was always on my mind. I contemplated many possibilities as to why and finally came to a possible conclusion, the most obvious conclusion. That I had legitimate feelings for Josh Washington.

_'What? No. Impossible'_

Just like the thoughts that invaded my head I tried to ignore it. It was just a stupid childhood crush after all, nothing more, but even if it was childhood attraction maturing into actual feelings, Josh was Chris' best friend, and according to the wide variety of  clichéd love stories portrayed in films and television this kind of relationship comes with multitudes of complications, especially with how typically protective Chris is. 

Chris knew about the crush I had on Josh when we were younger and would tease me about it to this day. I'm sure he didn't think much of it, which only made his jokes worse. Despite my excitement for the trip, now that I had come to terms with the fact that I thought of Josh as more than just a friend, I began to dread the mockery that I was certain to receive from Chris for the entirety of the getaway. Normally it wouldn't phase me and I'd always come back with a just as witty reply, but knowing that behind Chris' jokes there was some truth, flustered me even thinking about it.  

It was the night before the trip. Chris and I were home alone as our parents had left to go visit our grandparents. It was nostalgic to think that if he and I were younger we would've most likely have sent out invitations for a party in our parent's absence, but as of now we just sat in the living room, a fire crackling as he and I tossed a baseball back and forth whilst having casual conversation.

"So how're things with Ashley?" I questioned, catching the ball.

"Uh, what do you mean" Chris replied, his eyes darting back and forth.

"You know what I mean" Chris continued with his oblivious facade. "Have you, or have you not made a move on Ashely, Christopher?" I spoke rather mischievously raising an eyebrow in his direction. 

"Uh, w-well, you see-the thing is-"

"You haven't, haven't you?"

"Eh, no.."

"Pussy" Chris then looked at me with a bewildered expression, looking extremely offended and defensive.

"What?" He spoke with a tone higher than his normal voice, throwing the ball at me extra hard.

"How many years has it been? Two? Three? Possibly four and you still haven't done anything about your feelings for Ashley? Come on, man!" I said returning his aggressive pass of the ball, grunting slightly.

"I mean, it's not easy. I've thought about telling her, asking her out, but I always chicken out at the last minute. Anyway, what do you know? Besides she probably doesn't even like me in that way" His voice was now low and quite sad to hear. From the way he spoke I could tell that some part of him truly believed that his feelings for Ashley weren't mutual, but he couldn't be more wrong. Not only did I know for a fact that both Chris and Ashley liked one another, so did everyone else. It was as if everyone knew except the couple in questions which made for an extremely frustrating yet sweet pairing.

I got up from my place next to the television and slowly walked over to where Chris sat, plopping myself down next to him. He was staring down at the faded white baseball that rested in his hand, running his thumb over the red stitch, he faltered to look at me.

"Hey," His gaze remained on the baseball "Heeey" I whined, poking at his ribs in hopes of reaction, but he still stood his depressive ground.Frustrated by Chris' non-reaction, I stared at my moping brother with an annoyed child-like expression, slowly raising my index finger only to poke Chris hard in the forehead. 

"Ow! Hey, what was that for" 

"Stop being a Debbie-Downer and listen to me" Chris reluctantly kept eye contact. "Everyone knows that Ashley likes you Chris. I've been away for almost four years and even I know that Ash still likes your dumb ass, now all you need to do is come in and sweep her off her feet"

"She might not even like me in that way, Y/N" 

"Of course she does Chris! Every time I've come home to visit, Ashley has either called you, texted you or asked to hang out, I swear she keeps more in touch with you than Josh does and the two of you are practically married."

"Yeah, I guess you're right" Chris smiled.

"Yes. I am right. You need to stop doubting yourself, Chris. Besides who wouldn't want to date a nerd like you" 

"Hey-"

"Don't worry, you're a cute nerd, it's apart of your appeal" I smirked.

"Okay, okay, that's enough outta you." Chris laughed gently nudging my shoulder.

We continued to talk about Chris and Ashley's relationship as well as relationships within our group of friends. Chris informed me that Mike had swapped out Emily for Jessica which was drama I guiltily looked forward to now that Matt was with Emily; couples quarrel. Chris and I carried on gossiping, myself giggling at how much Chris enjoyed it. Our conversation was casual until topic of my love life arose.

"Anyway, what about you? Anyone you have in mind? A hollywood hunk for a boyfriend perhaps?" Chris mocked.

"What? No?" I said rather defensive. I felt my face begin to burn hot from my lie, slightly embarrassed that the first person to come into mind was Josh.

"Ah, ah, ah" Chris tsked moving his index finger from side to side like a scolding parent, "You're lying little sister and I'm not gonna leave you alone until you tell me" He now had a smug smile on his face, I could tell that he wasn't going to drop this and if I didn't tell him he'd just question me until I cracked.

"Come on, Chris, I don't have time for this" I said, removing myself from my spot next to him, making my way into the kitchen.

"Come oooon" He whined. "Y/N, come oooooon" He carried on, getting up to follow me into the kitchen. 

I stood my ground, remaining silent as I grabbed two beers from the fridge, aggressively pushing one into Chris chest. Chris and I were now on opposite sides of the kitchen, myself sitting atop the kitchen island while Chris leaned up against the counter gleefully sipping his beer.

"So how old is he?" 

"Chris"

"Did you meet him on set something?" He said cracking open his bottle

"Chris!" I shouted

"Do I know him?" When those words were spoken I stupidly fell silent which unintentionally answered Chris' question.

"Your silence indicates that I do know him, my dear, Y/N. A foolish mistake" Chris said with a half terrible renaissance accent 

"Ugh, fine." I confessed reluctantly, "You know him" The room fell silent, the only noise being the crackle of the fire and the occasional sips of beer from the two of us. 

"Is it Matt?"Chris said breaking the silence

"What? no" 

"Okay that was a truthful answer. Are you like every other girl and have a crush on our dear class president, Michael Munroe" Chris exaggerated

"As much as it pains me to say it, dear brother, Mike is in fact not the object of my undying affection," I said mimicking Chris' exaggerated tone

"Hmm, Brett?"

"No"

"Jordan?"

"Nope"

"...Sam?" Chris' voice was now higher than usual

"Yes"

"Seriously?!" He shouted excitedly 

"No"

"Josh" It caught me off guard, but there was no way I was going to make the same mistake twice, I fell into full on actress mode. After all if you can't act, you can tell a heck of a lie.

"Guess again," I said confidently

"Fuck. Well, I got nothing" He said taking a long sip from his beer in defeat. "And I'm guessing you're not gonna tell me aren't you?"

"Hell to the no" I giggled as I smugly drank my beer

"Ugh, will you ever tell me?" Before speaking I quickly drank the remainder of the liquid within my bottle and hopped off my spot on the kitchen counter, striding up to Chris arrogantly 

"Well, Christopher, the day that you ask out Ashley is the day I tell you" I then began to walk away triumphantly to my room. Normally Chris would be able to crack these but not this time, I had the upper hand. At least I thought I did.

"Wait.." Chris began "Hold on a second" 

"What?" I feigned confidence

"You DO like Josh don't you?" And just like that my composure slipped 

"H-how could you say that? That's just, ridiculous"

"You do, oh my god, you do!" Chris came running up to me, lifting me up off the floor slightly with enthusiasm.

"Fine, fine, fine, you're right! Just put me down, Chris, please!" I shouted while laughing, gently but forcefully hitting Chris' shoulders

"Your ass just got sacked! I got you, I just figured you out" Chris chimed childishly "Oh yeah, Who's awesome? I'm awesome!" He continued in a celebratory manner

"Ugh...How did you figure it out?"

"No one besides our parents call me 'Christopher' except for Josh and, oh, I wonder who else?"

"Seriously? Because I called you by your full name?"

"That and you did have a crush on him before and there's no reason for you not to now"

"Fuck" I huffed

"And you did kind of confirm it for me just now, so-"

"So-" I repeated

"You gotta ask him out" 

"You're a lunatic" 

"And you're a hypocrite" That may be so, but my situation was different to Chris'. I knew for a fact that Ashely had a crush on Chris since she'd told me years ago. I never told Chris because of the way she pleaded with me not to, and despite my eagerness to have the two of them together as a couple,  I wasn't going to break a promise just to get it to happen, so I only tried to encourage the two of them (mainly Chris) to do something about it. 

"Can we just drop this?" I said walking up the staircase to my room frustrated and embarrassed. As I walked away Chris began to chant,

"Y/N and Josh sittin' in a tree!" Chris called

"Chris" I grunted

"K, I, S, S, I, N, G!" He shouted amused

"Oh come on!" I shouted, my steps becoming heavier

"This is gonna be an interesting weekend" Chris shouted from downstairs 

I made my way into my room slamming the door behind me.It wasn't terrible that Chris knew, he was always going to mock me about having a feelings for Josh, but now that he had some sort of leverage on me, there was no telling what kind of scheme Chris was going to concoct for this weekend, plus he wasn't the best person for keeping secrets the way you're meant to. By keeping them secret. It's not that he'd blatantly tell them, most times they'd just slip out or he'd forget that he wasn't meant to tell anyone until it was too late, but he never did it on purpose. He also had a habit of obviously hinting things to people, making it easy for them to figure it out on their own, but this was done on purpose.

So now that Chris knew, there's no telling what was going to happen, hopefully, he'd be a good brother and keep it to himself, but I highly doubt that'd be the case at hand in this situation. Exhausted, I didn't want to dwell on the bad things too much, I wanted to have a good time with everyone this weekend and I wasn't going to let something such as a stupid little secret ruin that for me. As a matter of fact, who knows? Maybe I could become more than just friends with Josh. I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling, letting my mind go blank with pointless thoughts of tomorrow until I eventually drifted off to sleep. 


	3. Mount Washington

"Seriously, Y/N, can you calm down for five minutes?" Chris laughed.

"Could you hype up for five minutes?" I said cheekily, only earning a raised eyebrow look from Chris. "Fine, but I can't, I'm just too excited" I half shouted with a smile plastered on my lips.

It was hard to fathom that I was actually back, it'd been so long since my last visit it was surprising to see that everything had basically stayed the same. It became even more clear to me, the more I looked around and breathed in the familiar scent of mountain pine allowing it to completely fill my lungs chillingly. Yep, it was as if nothing had changed. As Chris and I came upon the pathway that lead to the cable station I broke into a sprint out of impatience.

"C'mon, Chris! Let's go!" I shouted running ahead of my less athletic brother.

When I began darting up the trail, it was as if I couldn't stop, my body pumping from the adrenaline and excitement. My mind was set on getting to the lodge as soon as possible so I could see everyone again. I'd said it numerous times before but it was all I could think about. I was so excited that I was looking forward to seeing Emily of all people.

"Y/N, get back where I can see you!" Chris yelled, I hadn't run a long way in front of Chris but just enough that I'd fallen out of his line of sight. He sounded very much like a parent which only made me laugh, making it slightly harder to run, but I went on.

His demand paired with his parental tone only urged me to run further, disobeying him like a wayward child. The faster my speed became, the more the falling snow blurred my vision; my eyes squinting from the build up of sleet on my face. I stupidly decided this wouldn't be a problem and continued forward down a small snowed over hill, only to find myself running on a path frozen over with ice instead of snow. I began slipping, my balance faltering from the slippery iced over terrain. I flailed my arms wildly like a flightless bird attempting flight as I tried to regain my balance, which only caused my stance to turn the opposite way from the path, as I began sliding backwards slowly on the ice beneath me.

I tried desperately and clumsily to turn around without falling flat on my ass, and just as I felt like I'd gotten the hang of the slippery path, I bumped hard into a figure, causing them and myself to topple over, the both of us shouting on our short but dramatic way down. My head pounded from the impact from the hard freezing surface, my eyes shut from the slight pain that surged through me.

"Ugh, I'm sorry" I groaned apologetically whilst I softly rubbed the the area of my head that was impacted.

"It's okay, I should've been paying attention" The voice laughed a familiar laugh. It took a while for me to register who the voice belonged to, but quickly it clicked.

"Ashley?" I opened my eyes to see that her crouched in front of my. She met my gaze and looked just as surprised as I was.

"Y/N" She replied in shock.

Emotions were coursing through me, it was hard to comprehend her being in front of me. I hadn't prepared myself for such a sudden reunion, I'd prepared myself for your typical greeting where I'd knock on the lodge door and be enthusiastically greeted by whoever answered the door, greeting the others after them, but I didn't expect to see someone so soon which had admittedly caught me off guard. I don't know why it baffled me, but it did. After all this time being gone, working, missing my family, my friends, waiting to see them again, here one was, and I couldn't believe it and neither could she. Instead of giving me the reunion I'd mulled over, the universe decided to throw me in the deep end and have me bump and knock over someone, possibly giving them a mini concussion - what a great start to the weekend.

After Ashley and I finally realised that we were both indeed real and this was really happening, we did what most girls do. We screamed bloody murder and clumsily hugged each whilst continuing to scream on the icy forest floor. When we eventually concluded our screaming greeting, we helped each other back onto our feet, supporting one another in hopes neither of us would fall again.

"Oh. My. Gosh! I can't believe you're really here!" Ashley half shouted.

"I can't believe I'm here"

"I heard that you were back, but I wasn't sure if you'd be coming?" She questioned. "It's just so good to see you" She smiled.

"Well I -" Before I could finish my sentence Chris came tumbling down the hill shouting my name.

"Y/N! Are you okay? What's all the screaming a" Chris paused "-bout." He was huffing and puffing presumably from running to find me. At first he seemed worried, but quickly changed when his gaze met Ashley's.

"O-oh, hey Ash" Chris stuttered, clearly thrown off guard.

"Hey, Chris" Ashley smiled, her cheeks turning to a blushing red.

Now, I'd definitely hate it if someone did what I was about to do to them to me, but it was too easy, I couldn't help myself. Even though their current conversation was brief and mostly consisted of awkward stares and small talk, I could feel the romantic tension between the two of them, which I took as my cue to give them some alone time. It wouldn't be hard, since the two were enthralled with each other and I had practically become invisible since Chris' dramatic entry, which made me scheme more than easy to execute.

I sneakily went into my phone's settings and played the text notification aloud, making that Chris and Ashley heard it.

"Oh, hey, I just got a text from Mom." At this moment I was in full actress mode, easily lying through my teeth, but Chris still seemed suspicious.

"Oh, really?" Chris motioned his eyes towards my obviously open phone settings rather than text, shooting me accusatory daggers although Ashley hadn't noticed.

"Yeah, she wanted me to take lot's of photo's of the mountain. So, I might just run up ahead, just so I can beat the cable car before it gets here, if that's okay?" I grinned

"Sure, we'll catch up" Ashley smiled

"Well, do you have to go now?" Chris interjected, clearly protesting the idea of being left alone with Ashley.

"You know how much Mom loves mount Washington, Chris." I shouted already running ahead of them; I could feel Chris' eyes burning a hole in the back of my skull, encouraging me to laugh and run faster.

It only took a few long strides for me to be out of sight. As of now my only company was the trees and the occasional run-by animal, but other than that I was on my own. Walking further up the trail I realised that going ahead by myself may not have been worth leaving Chris to suffer in awkward attraction induced silence. The scenery was breath taking but what I'd neglected to remember was that I was alone, and it was dark. Suddenly every single horror movie I'd seen began to replay in my mind and the reality that I was walking by myself in a mostly pitch back, dimly illuminated forest began to set in, causing an internal panic.

Slowly my pace quickened and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. Not many things scared me, but the dark was one of the few things I actually feared. Childish, but oh so real and terrifying. As luck would have it, the cable car station came into view and by some sort of miracle I wouldn't be waiting alone.

"Sam! Sam, Sam, Sam,Sam" I repeated, breaking out into a full sprint, embracing her in a tight hug upon impact.

"Woah, oh gosh, Y/N hey. Are you alright" Sam held me like a mother comforting her child would, it was so comforting to have her here.

"Yeah, just dark woods-horror movies-overthinking-etcetera" I replied huffing, trying to calm down from my panic" I tightly gripped her shoulders in relief. She only laughed and reassured me that I was fine. She was the same old Sam I remembered.

"That was some entrance you made" Sam said smirking

"Thank you, I try hard" I'd finally caught my breath and the thoughts of unknown threats lurking in the dark had finally fleeted

Sam and I sat there for a while. Our reunion was a lot calmer compared to the one I shared with Ashley, but it was heart warming and nostalgic all the same. We sat there making small talk about how Sam was doing at college and what she'd planned on doing after. Our conversation mainly focused on her life so far since my life was practically public knowledge, but I didn't mind. When you're an actress it does get boring always talking about yourself and it was nice to have the attention revolve around someone else for a change.

"-and then after that I plan on starting a family I guess" Sam paused. "But enough about me," She turned her body towards me, giving me her full attention before speaking again. "What's going on with you and Josh?" She said with a questioning smile

'God damn it'

My body stiffened at the question. Of course Chris couldn't keep his stupid mouth shut, there was no telling who else he must've told. I groaned loudly, covering my face with both hands in embarrassment and irritation.

"Chris told you, didn't he?" Sam looked at me with a guilty smile. Unlike Chris, if you had a secret to tell and wanted it to be kept a secret Sam was the one you went to.

"You don't have to cover for him, Sam" I said flashing her my best puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, he did tell me, but he didn't mean to"

"Of course he did!" I shouted unsurprised, dramatically slumping myself on the cable station bench.

The two of fell into comfortable silence as I sat contemplating a revenge on Chris and the possibility that the others knew as well. Sam was respectful of my processing and allowed me to think without interruption and just sat next to down on the bench comforting me.

"I haven't told anyone, if it makes you feel better?" She said sweetly, breaking the air of silence

"Yeah, a little"

"So, you wanna tell me about it or should I ask your loud mouthed brother?" Sam spoke in a mischievous tone.

"Oh God, no" I groaned. "There's not much to tell actually."

"Then tell me what there is to tell" I'd never seen Sam so excited to hear news, as her face lit up with anticipation and she moved a few inches closer to me

"Well, when I was little I had a crush on Josh,"

"Yeees" She dragged

"And the feelings never really went away. They only got stronger, even more so since I've come home" Sam looked at me in awe, I could feel myself beginning to blush

"Then I guess we'll have to see what happens this weekend, huh?" Sam gently nudged my side

"I guess so"

Only a few minutes went by filled with girlish conversation regarding Josh and I's relationship as well as Sam's love life when we saw Chris and Ashley approaching us from the pathway. The awkward air that surrounded them hadn't completely subsided but it seemed like they managed to have a proper conversation in my absence rather than their usual uncomfortable small talk. Greetings hugs were exchanged between the Ashley, Sam and Chris followed by conversation on their excitement for this weekend with a few sly exchanges of winks and playful stares between Sam and I, leaving Chris and Ashley feigning confusion even though they both knew what we were referring to; our hopes of them finally becoming a couple.

While Sam and Ashley continued talking it occurred to me that I needed to discuss Chris telling Sam about my crush on Josh as well as if he'd told anyone else.

"Oh Chris, could I talk to you over there for a second?" Chris was caught up in the conversation, giving me only a sideways glance and a simple 'huh'

"Now?" I said aggressively quiet, not wanting Sam or Ashley to hear the clear anger in my voice whilst dragging Chris by the ear

"Okay, okay I'm coming!" Chris whisper shouted as I dragged him to a fairly secluded area. "What?!"

"Why in the hell did you tell Sam?" I half shouted, having to stare up at my towering brother

"Tell Sam what?" Chris said more focussed on his tender helix.

"You know what!" Chris remained oblivious "That I....mhmm...Josh" I mumbled

"Oh"

"Yeah-oh!"

Silence fell between us.

"Care to explain?" I said crossing my arms, placing my body in a sassy position.

"Sam called just to check in and we ended up talking about how you were doing and it just slipped out..." he said nervously scratching the back of his head and avoiding my threatening eye contact. "I'm sorry, sis, I really am I just-" I cut off his sentence by punching him hard in the shoulder, then pulling him into a hug before he could say anything. "Okay, now I'm scared. Confused. And slightly flattered?" Chris said his voice muffled into my shoulder as he hesitantly returned the hug.

Despite Chris' inability to keep my secret, I could tell he was truly sorry for revealing it. He's my brother after all and even though he slightly messed up, he made it hard to stay mad at him, especially when he looked down at me with the utmost sincerity he could display.

"I know you didn't to tell Sam, Chris, and I can't stay mad at you when I'm this happy to be back here - it's because of you after all" I smiled up at him.

"So, I'm off the hook..?"

"As long as you haven't told anyone else" Chris stood silent, avoiding my stare once again. "Chris?" I dragged on.

"Who else did you tell?" I spoke with clear aggravation in my tone.

"Hannah and Beth?" He says cautiously.

Out of all the people Chris could've told, he told the two people that would surely get involved in Josh and my relationship in an attempt to couple us together, much like Sam and I. Not to mention that they were both related to Josh and held his complete trust and could easily tell him at anytime.

"Are-are you okay?" He questioned just as cautiously.

I could feel the surge of anger build internally within me, but before I could react Sam and Ashley called out to us, motioning for us to come over; the cable car had arrived. Rather than giving Chris a passive aggressive reply, I simply sauntered off sternly, which to me seemed much more intimidating than actually giving him an answer. Chris quietly mumbled something and reluctantly resumed his spot beside me, keeping a his distance.

"So, are we okay?" He whispered stealthily made our way to the cable station.

"Chris," I stated "If anything remotely embarrassing happens this weekend-" I stopped in my tracks, turning to face him. "I.Will.End.You" I spoke intimidatingly, continuing to walk to Sam and Ashley, leaving Chris behind to process what I'd said and possibly rethink any possible pranks, or plans he had for this weekend.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I took so long to update, I'll try creating a strict writing and post schedule for you guys so you won't have to wait so long for another damn chapter! Also, I'm sorry for the weird ending? I wasn't quite sure how to end it, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter, I promise x


	4. Salutations

The cable car ride went by fast, it was almost as if it was over just as soon as it'd begun. The four of us were distracted by each others company, with myself passive aggressively ignoring Chris. What Chris did was inadmissible. Throughout our lives Chris had never done anything to make me feel as betrayed as I did now it was always small annoying and irritating things typical of an older brother, but never something as severe as this. 

In the scheme of things, I really didn't mind that Sam or Chris knew, it was that I wasn't even sure if I did really like Josh, it could all be in my head for all I knew. The only reason I came to the conclusion that I saw Josh as more than just a friend was because I'd been dwelling on it for so long, I assumed that having feelings for Josh was the only reasonable explanation. Besides, there were definitely much worse people to be attracted to. As a matter of fact, he may have been one of the most eligible people to have a crush on. 

Josh was such a genuine person. He had an impressively good sense of humour with an astonishing intellect that nicely complimented his charming and flirtatious personality. Not to mention that his appearance was certainly a sight for sore eyes with that dorkishly proud grin he'd flash whenever he would crack a clearly bad pun, as well as the contrasting sea green of his eyes; one of the things I missed most about Josh, but hence the question arose: did I have genuine feelings for Josh or did I just miss these things about him?

To be fair, even if my feelings were true who could blame me? With his adoringly unique personality, combined with his strikingly attractive features, he made it almost impossible for anyone to avoid falling for him. So if I did like Josh like I suspected, it's not like my attraction wouldn't be justified.

"Y/N, come on, we're almost there!" Sam called from further up the trail. 

"Oh right! Sorry.." I looked around confused at my unfamiliar surroundings and continued walking. I had become so enthralled in my thoughts of Josh that I'd blocked out most of the walk towards the lodge as well as our exit from the cable car. 

"Did you black out or something?" Sam laughed commenting on my slow paced walking as of before.

"Yeah, a little. I can barely recall us getting out of the cable car, let alone walking all the way up here" I half-smiled, distracted by my determination to remember.

"Really? We've been walking for, like, ten minutes and you've been out of it for that long? What were you thinking about?" 

"Um-" I was in an internal panic. I didn't want to fuel the idea of myself and Josh together by telling the truth, but I didn't want to lie to Sam either as she would never lie to me. 

"Ah, just stuff and things, the usual daydream sort of stuff" I said nonchalant trying to make whatever I was saying I was thinking about seem unimportant.

"Okay" She dragged. Sam had a sly smile slicked onto her face, she could easily see through my careless facade and that I was shying away from the truth.

"Anyway, where did Ash and Chris go?" I anxiously tried to change the subject without seeming anymore suspicious.

"Oh, they went on ahead while I waited for you to catch up. So, they're probably at the lodge by now" 

"Sure you didn't just ditch them?"

"Nope, one hundred percent their idea" Sam smiled, I almost couldn't believe it.

"Wow. I can't believe Chris willingly went with Ash alone"

"Same goes for her"

It was common knowledge how much those too liked each other, heck, even a blind man could see it from a mile away, but just like everyone knew about their obvious feelings, it was also common knowledge that neither of them were going to do anything about it and no matter how much they liked one another, it was a rare thing that they'd voluntarily spend time alone together. I could almost feel a bubble of pride rise within me for Chris and Ashley, this was definitely a step forward for them. A small, slow burning, but nonetheless a step.

"Sam-" I stopped for dramatic effect "- they're finally comfortable being alone together!" I shouted triumphantly, raising my arms in victory which earned a giggle from Sam.

"The question is: how do we get them closer?" 

"We could scare them into each others arms?" I said half joking, half serious.

"Y/N, no" Sam said bluntly.

"Prank them into each others arms?"

"Jesus, no!" Sam said laughing at my persistence "Geez, you sound like a Washington" She scoffed

"Pfft, what? No." I quipped, followed by a string of nervous laughter

"Um, yes. That's exactly something Beth or Josh would think to say, Josh especially." 

Sam then looked at me with a hint of mischief in her grin. She was hinting at the obvious and I was reluctant to ask what it was like she wanted me to and decided to ignore her hints instead.

"I guess it does sound like something he'd say being the son of a movie mogul family that specialises in horror movies." I spoke sassily

"I guess so too" Sam said simply and continued to admire the breath taking scenery around that surrounded us which had unintentionally ended our conversation.

I could tell that Sam wanted to talk about my relationship with Josh. Although she took pride in her reputation of keeping secrets, she did love a good gossip session every now and then, but what I truly admired about her was even with her eagerness to find out more she wasn't going to pressure me into telling her. She was the type of person to wait for me to tell her or find out from someone else which was something I'd come to admire about Sam, not to mention the numerous times her knowledge of whatever gossip was going on would always make for entertaining late night chats, and would come in handy quite often.

The silence between us was deafening. I felt awkward, like I was obliged to tell her what was going on in my mind. I could either let the thoughts dwell on my mind or I could talk about it to my friend who I trust entirely?

"Sam" I said, my voice quiet.

"Yes, Y/N?" She smirked

"I think-" I paused. "I think I like Josh" I confessed.

"Dude, I knew that already?" She giggled

"Yeah but-"

"But?" She dragged

"It's complicated. I think I'm in denial about it?"

"What do you mean?" Sam's smile dropped and gave me a concerned expression.

"I really don't know? I think I like Josh-no, I _know_   I like Josh, but I keep denying it and I have literally no idea why?" I felt defeated. It had been a long time since I'd felt this way about someone else; it was alarming.

"To me it sounds like someone's fallen harder than they realise"

"Shut up" My smile returned and I playfully bumped Sam in the shoulder which made the two of us laugh.

"You know, I think he might like you too" Sam commented nonchalantly, I could feel my stomach churn and my heart race.

"Just because I like him doesn't mean the feeling is mutual Sam"

"No, seriously! The day he found out you were back, I was hanging out with Hannah when Josh busted into the room to tell us"

"And? I've been gone for almost four years Sam? That's a pretty reasonable reaction"

"He drove home early on his first day of work - with his _dad_ might I add, and shouted it aloud before he came inside and basically ripped Hannah's door of it's hinges" She explained raising an eyebrow.

Silence.

"Okay, you've got me there" I replied stubbornly.

"If I'm honest, it should have been obvious, Josh has done a lot of things over the years that point to the idea of him liking you. I don't know why I never noticed!" 

"Yeah right" I said bluntly.

"He hasn't stopped talking about you, you know? This is the most excited he's been in years"

"Now you're just being dramatic" I quipped dramatically for effect. 

"And you're starting to sound like Chris" She laughed.

"Oh god" The realisation hit me. I had become my brother. 

I began to reflect on every time I'd been in Sam's position and Chris had been in mine. Not once had I thought I'd be reacting the same way he does, almost exactly like him.

"Is this how Chris feels?" I spoke innocently, shooting Sam my widest puppy dog eyes.

"Runs in the family, I guess" She was being alarmingly calm about the situation, leaving me behind to stand alone in the snow to gawk at the realisation that Chris and I weren't as different as I'd initially thought. "Well? Are you coming?" Sam called from further up the trail.

I was too distracted by my internal mayhem to realise that we were only a mere few steps away from the lodge. I looked up at Sam who had walked a little further up the trail than I, the massive structure painting her background graciously. Simply looking at the lodge was enough to cause a flood of nostalgia to flush through me - the closer I walked towards the structure, the stronger the feeling grew and only got worse as I saw the familiar posture of friends in front of me. Jess, Mike, Emily, Matt, everyone was back together once again and from the looks of it, no one had noticed I was here yet.

Feeling mischievous,I slowly crept up towards Jessica, planning on surprising the lot of them with a cheap jump scare, a fitting greeting in my opinion. Before I could put my plan into action, I was suddenly heading towards the earth, impacted by a strong unknown force. At first I was in a panicked state as I couldn't see who or what had knocked me down. The feeling subsided when the familiar sound of high pitched screeched screams sounded in my ears as I lay in the bed of snow, nearly suffocating from the weight of the figures above me. Of course it was none other than the Washington twins themselves. 

"You're really back!" Hannah screamed, sitting up so I could see her face. She looked as if she'd just seen someone who she thought was dead once again.

"I'm back." I stated through laughs.

"I-I can't believe it" Beth cried hugging tighter. Hannah did the same. 

Although an abrupt greeting and not my intended method of entry, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, after all I missed them just as much as they missed me, if not more. I let my initial reaction recede and allowed myself to let loose a few emotionally tears as I attempted to wrap my arms around the sisters and hold them as tight as they held me. We sat like this for what felt like hours, the reality being only a few minutes until our moment was interrupted.

"Okay, girls hop up" A low cheerful voice spoke.

"You aren't the only ones that missed her" A similar voice commented.

Hannah and Beth reluctantly pulled themselves off of me, helping me to my feet in the process. As I stood, I was able to put faces to the familiar voices. Standing in front of me were two of my closest friends, Matt and Mike. Michael had the biggest shit eating grin on his face, as if I should be the one excited to see him, the same grin I'd come to love over the years of friendship between us, no matter how much I despised it. Matt was different, he stood there patiently, holding back his excitement like the champ he was, although visible in the way he bit down on his bottom lip and held his hands behind his back with anticipation. 

Unsure of who to embrace first, I simply outstretched both arms and wrapped them around the pair, squeezing tightly.

"I've missed you guys so, so much." I half-shouted, having to tip-toe because of our height differences.

"How do you think we feel?" Matt laughed, tightening his hold.

"I mean, it's not like you were gone for long? A month or twelve?" Mike commented sarcastically.

"Michael Munroe, I swear-" Before I could finish my empty threat, Matt and Mike were pulled from my grasp.

"That's enough of the two of you, you're not the only ones who've missed her." 

As expected, Emily was the one who pulled the two of them from me. She then gave me a small, short lived hug. She was definitely amongst the cold hearted, but we were still friends and despite her crude and rude attitude, she and I have had our fair share of good memories. If all I was going to get from her was a short, emotionless hug, I'll take what I can get.

"Anyway, it's not like I missed you that much, but I did miss all of your hair products, miss hollywood." Emily smirked, pulling away from our embrace.

"I missed you too, Emily." I smiled, ignoring her last comment and mocking nickname.

She merely scoffed a 'whatever' which strangely warmed my heart and made me smile.

"Ehhhh!" Jessica screeched from behind Emily who then moved so Jess could then engulf me in my eighth hug of the night. "You look _so_ good, Y/N. I can't believe you're finally back" Jess said in her classic preppy tone. 

"Thank you so much." I paused momentarily, just to take everything in. "Ugh, it's just so good to be back here with you all." I couldn't seem to wipe the smile off my face. 

Everyone back together combined with the frozen in time setting, it was hard to fathom. The reunion wasn't as I'd expected it to be, it was greater than I could've possibly dreamt of, the only thing that could possibly make it better being the man of the hour who I surprisingly hadn't come across yet.

It was strange having reunited with the others except Josh. As if this day couldn't get even more romance novel cliché, it just had to be that Josh was the last one to greet me out of the group, and just to sugar coat the situation 'no one' seemed to know where he was, and whoever did, wasn't telling. Logically, I let my thoughts melt away and allowed myself to get distracted by the numerous conversations happening at once.

"So, you got a boyfriend, Y/N?" Jess asked with expectancy of an answer.

_'It was only a matter of time before this question popped up again'_

"Sorry to disappoint, but no." 

"Bullshit" Emily spat bluntly. "There's no way that you've been little miss hollywood popular for four years and no one has tried to get up in your business. So, come on, spill." I could feel the familiar sting of Emily's words cut through me like a knife, piercing every moral of my being to confess. 

"There was....a few?" I hesitated, racing my voice pitch as I dragged on.

The whole group erupted with squeals of excitement with Matt and Mike giving their usual cat call hooting, while the girls screamed excitedly, all except Emily who looked far too smug for getting me to reveal my media breaking news. Chris only drifted to the corner of the group, looking comedically betrayed, acting as if I'd killed his pet or something more obscene.

"Who was your favourite?" Jess quipped seductively with sass.

"I can't believe you guys haven't read about it in the media?" I was legitimately surprised that none of them had seen or heard about my celebrity flings. Whenever they'd occur, the news of my suitors would sky rocket across news programmes and social media and they'd stay there for over a month or two.

"Ever since you went hollywood, none of us read anything the media said about you." Matt chimed.

"Yeah, we chose not to believe anything they wrote about you. If anything happened, we'd want to hear about from you" Mike added.

"Moral of the story: we know close to nothing about your celebrity life, only the things Chris has been telling us" Ashley then explained.

"You guys," I held my hands over my heart, "- that's so sweet, thank you" I was touched.

It was common knowledge that if you were a celebrity, anything you did that was scandal or news worthy, would immediately be reported on. Whether it be a twitter conspiracy or a legitimate E! news broadcast, people were going to have the details on your private life whether you liked it or not. The day you become famous, is the day you kiss your private life good bye, which only made their gestures all the more meaningful to me.

"Stop stalling!" Beth yelled.

"Tell us!" Hannah continued.

"Who was your favourite celebrity boy toy?" Jess added.

I sighed.

"Rami Malek..."

Their faces dropped. Emotion drained from every face, every mouth gapping wide, with their focus directed towards me and only me, staring intensely. None of them could believe me, and at the time neither could I. It was a long time ago, and yes there was a drastic age difference between us , but out of all the guys I attempted to date secretly, Rami was the sweetest.

"No fucking way" Emily hissed.

"You dated the Mr.Robot guy?!" Chris shouted, his expression incomprehensibly shocked.

"I dated the Mr.Robot guy?" I said laughing.

"Who dated the Mr.Robot guy?" There he was.

"Y/N dated Rami Malek" Beth whispered.

"That's funny, I've heard he looks like me." 

I became stiff. He pushed passed his sisters who were standing by my side to enter the group circle we'd formed. He bore that familiar grey flannel shirt I adored so much, as well as the same knitted beanie he'd wear to the get away every year. He stood tall, confident. The way he held himself was different from before, but in an improved way. He seemed more sure of himself, his presence immediately making me swoon in the way it demanded admiration, it was hard to hide my reaction to his sudden appearance. He had become the ultimate version of himself, as well as one that flustered my actress poised composure. I wasn't prepared for him, for Josh Washington. 

"Welcome back, Y/N." Josh smiled. His voice was smooth, calming, almost hypnotic. This was a welcome I could get used to.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm so so so so so so so sorry that I took so long to publish this chapter, which is why this one's extra long. I'm thinking that the next one's bound to have some actual reader and Josh interaction which I'm guessing y'all are dying for, so I won't let you down this time, because it's only just getting good.
> 
> Thanks for reading guys, you're support is what encourages me to write these chapters. Without you, there is no fanfiction - Mochi

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for giving my story the time of day, it really means a lot. Let me know if you liked it, if you didn't, what I could fix and if you want to see more in the near future!  
> 


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